Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.
–Anne Frank
With the semester done, I had two weeks to travel, pack, and relax, so I flew down to Wellington for three days. I didn’t know exactly what to expect from this impromptu holiday; I just wanted to cheaply see more of the North Island and not sit around my flat in Auckland.
My flight was the best ever because there were two cute little kids sitting near me and the flight was only an hour. The little girl was somewhere near my niece’s age because she had more teeth, similar coordination (as far as I could tell), but didn’t talk very well. The little boy was only a few months old and simply precious. One hour is absolutely nothing in a plane, especially compared to my looming flight home.
When I arrived, I checked into my hostel and went to walk around town. I took pictures of the railway station, government buildings, Cathedral of St. Paul, the national library, and archives building. I planned to return my last day and tour any buildings I could for free. First, I wanted to orient myself with the city and explore my options.
The one place I did stop to tour was Old St. Paul’s Church. This became my final stop because it was becoming dark. The church had a beautiful, wooden gothic style inside that I’ve never seen before and I could take pictures with flash 🙂 I also loved taking pictures of the stained glass windows; they’re so well done. While there I spoke with the curator, learning the organ has 1,316 pipes and having the opportunity to see the bells. He told me the bells must be upside down and allowed to drop in order to ring, so playing a tune requires five people with impeccable timing.
My walk back was cold and dark. The wind was biting at my exposed skin and reminded me of the wind in Milwaukee. I managed to take a few pictures of the city at night before losing feeling in my fingers to the cold. Since I took a different route back to my hostel, I almost got lost by taking a right when I should have gone left. I realised my error within a block or two and quickly corrected my route, so as to find heat.
My accommodation was wonderful. The heat was on, supper was included, and the other girls in my room were really nice. The heat in my room kept my bunk really warm and I loved it! The supper was a bit small, so I bought dessert and upgraded to a larger portion the next night.
Two of the girls (French and English) were living in the hostel while working and searching for more work. They were both really nice and the French girl reminded me of my friend, Alyssa, because she looked a lot like her and had the same shy, friendly personality. The first night another French girl roomed with us; she was working in Queenstown and was on her way back from hitchhiking her way through New Zealand. I think she’s crazy to hitchhike. The second night a German girl volunteering throughout the country stayed with us on her way to her next volunteer position. Despite every bed being full, I enjoyed meeting these girls.
The second day I bought a muffin from the supermarket for brunch before exploring numerous free museums. I learned about the history of New Zealand’s money at the Reserve Bank Museum, awed at the splendid Wellington Cathedral of St. Paul, viewed historical documents at Archives New Zealand, wandered through the Wellington Botanic Garden, discovered the history of cable cars in Wellington at the Cable Car Museum, rode the cable car back into town, ate a cheap as late lunch at McDonald’s, read about incredible New Zealand women at The New Zealand Portrait Gallery, and enjoyed a few hours at the Museum of Wellington City & Sea. Everything aside from food, souvenirs, and the cable car ride was free, so I was happy with how little I spent; even the cable car was cheap because I’m a Kiwi student.
Originally I planned to spend Wednesday on the South Island, however, new information about the ferry ride persuaded me otherwise. I knew the ferry ride to Picton would be longer than my other ferry rides, but the travel agent at my accommodation said from the time I arrive at the Wellington ferry dock until I dock in Picton is four hours, three of which are travel. I get sea sick after an hour, so I didn’t want to spend two hours releasing my stomach contents only to repeat the process again that night. Also the most time I could spend in Picton would be 5-6 hours, so I’d spend more time on the ferry than in Picton.
Thursday was my final day, so I hiked Mt Victoria, stopped by Oriental Bay Beach, explored Te Papa Museum, and relaxed at the public library. For the second time in Wellington, I took a right when I should have gone left. This wrong turn led me around Mt Victoria instead of up the mountain. I wasn’t paying any attention to where I was going and went so far out of my way that I almost walked off my map. Once I found the mountain base, I easily found my way to the top. Getting to the top wasn’t as easy physically because most of trails were quite steep to be hiking in jeans with a purse.
The view at the top was marvellous despite the freezing cold, wind, and rain clouds. I could still see the whole harbour, Cook Strait/ the Pacific Ocean, the CBD, and the airport. I had an interesting incident with a group of Spanish speakers at the summit as well. The guy asked me to take a picture of their whole group, but his English was so horrible he couldn’t form a complete sentence (or in this case question). I totally misunderstood what he was trying to ask, but when a girl helped him in Spanish, I understood what she said and consequently what the guy had tried to ask me. Maybe my Spanish isn’t as bad as I thought…
I stopped by Oriental Bay Beach to eat a snack and admire the random fountain out in the water before visiting the Te Papa Museum. The fountain provided more entertainment than I expected and so did searching for shells 🙂 On my way to the museum, I passed a colourful sea mural with several animals I didn’t anticipate seeing until I realised the mural incorporated all of New Zealand’s waters.
The museum was giant, but not as interesting as I thought it would be. The first couple levels were geared more towards kids. While I enjoy simplistic exhibits, I’m not interested in learning through arts and crafts. The Awesome Forces section started extremely interesting with information about shifting plates and Gondwanaland (aka Pangaea). I learned Christchurch is moving further south every year because it lies on a different plate than most of New Zealand. The Living Cloaks special exhibit was also interesting at first, but pictures aren’t allowed and the various cloaks don’t change much from one to another. The feather cloaks were incredible and I couldn’t imagine weaving so many feathers into a cloak, but they basically all looked the same. The contemporary art section was also great, but again I couldn’t take pictures. There were a couple works I really wanted pictures of too. I enjoyed the exhibits on New Zealand history because this didn’t focus solely on the Maori people. Pasifika immigrants were included as well as European immigrants. This was the first I’d really learned about the European settlers. When New Zealand was being heavily settled, I could have received free passage from England and easily would easily be admitted into the country. Today, I qualify for permanent entrance if I receive a job offer. The top level contained practical pottery. The pieces included a fruit juicer, sauce cups, a water jug with faucet, and other kitchen items.
I still had time before my flight, so I picked up my stuff from the hostel and killed time in the library. I worked on a blog post and checked stuff online using the free Wi-Fi. Sitting down felt great and my seat had a cushion 🙂 Relaxing felt great after being on my feet for two straight days.
At the airport, I met up with Julia who I’d be road tripping with that weekend. We swapped stories about our three days in Wellington and discussed our plans for the coming weekend. Since the airport was small, our view was the dark, rainy night instead of the inside of our gate.
“I promise to come home to you…Don’t count the miles, count the I love yous” –“Miles” by Christina Perri
I love you!!! –> For not wasting my second to last week in NZ
I love you!!! –> For doing lots in Wellington
I love you!!! –> For learning on my holiday
I love you!!! –> For not spending much money
ILYs: 173
Bethany Blount 